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Summary <br />Present Status <br />The Roadside North and South Portal Mines (formerly known as the Roadside and Cameo Mines) is an <br />underground coal mining operation located in Mesa County, approximately three miles northeast of Palisade, <br />Colorado, adjacent to Interstate 70 and the Colorado River, at the Cameo exit in DeBeque Canyon. Although the <br />official status of the operation is "Active ", there has been no coal extraction at the mine since December 1999. <br />Extensive reclamation work has been conducted at the mine since coal extraction ceased, much of the work <br />performed after acquisition of the operation by SCC in 2001/2002. During active operations, mine portals, coal <br />processing facilities, and a coal mine waste disposal area were located south and east of the interstate, and river. <br />Additional mine portals, coal handling facilities, two coal mine waste disposal areas, and a rail loadout facility, <br />were located north and west of the river. At present, the North Portals have been sealed and backfilled, North <br />Portal facilities demolished, and backfilling and grading of the North Portal facilities area completed. Final <br />reclamation tasks at the North Portals area were completed in 2012 following approval of Permit Revision No. 5 <br />(PR -5). The PR -5 application was submitted by Snowcap Coal Company, Inc., to gain approval for the removal <br />of Ponds 6, 10, 11 and 13 along with other drainage control features at CRDA 1 & 2, CBA 1 & 2 and the North <br />Portal. With this revision SCC was approved to make changes to the final reclamation plans of Ponds 6, 10, and <br />11, Coal Gulch, the Coal Canyon drainage and Roadside North Portal. <br />An important component of PR -5 was the decision to leave the Coal Canyon drainage in its current configuration <br />as recommended by the U S Corp of Engineers. As part of the design for CRDA -2, the Coal Canyon drainage <br />channel was realigned to provide a more uniform, controlled flow between CRDA -1 and CRDA -2. Recently, the <br />US Corp of Engineers recommended that that Coal Canyon drainage, which was previously approved for <br />realignment during the reclamation of Ponds 6 and 10, remain in its current configuration. The drainage is stable <br />in its current position and according to Corp of Engineers personnel realignment for the sake of routing the <br />drainage back to its original contours would not be a justifiable reason for issuing a Corp Permit. The Division <br />concurred with not re- disturbing the current alignment of Coal Canyon and as part of the final reclamation plan <br />Coal Canyon remains in its present alignment and configuration. This is described in more detail below with <br />regard to Diversions and Conveyance of Overland Flow and Stream Channel Diversions. All reclamation work <br />in the North Mine reclaimed areas and along Coal Creek has been completed for these locations. <br />Both of the two coal waste disposal areas north and west of the river in Coal Canyon have been fully reclaimed. <br />With approval of Permit Revision No. 4, the Unit Train Loadout (UTL) facility and a portion of the railroad spur <br />and overland conveyor corridor, north of 19/10 Road, were converted from "Fish and Wildlife Habitat" to <br />"Industrial or Commercial" for the UTL area. The land use change allowed for long term postmine use of the <br />loadout area and various associated facilities for rail loading, unloading, and storage of construction materials. <br />Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (Halliburton) purchased the UTL facility from SCC and continues to use the <br />loadout as an industrial site. The entire UTL facility has since been Phase III bond released and removed from the <br />permit area. <br />At the South Mine, located south and east of I -70, the South Portal has been sealed, the coal processing plant <br />and various other facilities have been demolished and removed. Earthwork, and revegetation at the South Portal <br />facilities has been completed and the refuse disposal area has been fully reclaimed. Final reclamation plans for <br />the South Portal facilities were modified by Permit Revision No. 3 (PR -3), approved in September 2007. PR -3 <br />incorporated a variance from approximate original contour (AOC), and allowed for retention of certain buildings <br />